Donors give generously to the Cardinal Foundation
Four generous contributions were made to the organization in 2022
The Gadsden State Community College Cardinal Foundation was established to raise, manage, distribute and steward private resources to support the mission of the College. In 2022, the organization received four generous contributions from three local supporters and an anonymous donor.
In February 2022, Mark Condra, then-president of the Cardinal Foundation Board of Directors, announced that an anonymous benefactor donated $200,000 to be used for scholarships and other financial assistance programs. The program became known as the Cardinal Foundation Excellence in Education Scholarships and Student Aid Program.
The donation had to be disbursed to eligible Gadsden State students during the 2022 calendar year. Half of the donation was awarded in scholarships for those pursuing credentials in one of Gadsden State’s many workforce readiness programs. Funds were used for tuition and fees in career technical courses and skills training courses.
A portion of the donation – $60,000 – was earmarked for leadership scholarships awarded to students who demonstrated leadership on campus and motivated fellow students to assert themselves to become leaders on the campus and within the community. The Cardinal Emergency Fund assisted students on all five of Gadsden State’s campuses who experienced times of financial duress. The donation allowed for $30,000 to be placed in this fund. The remaining $10,000 of the anonymous donation went into the Cardinal Opportunity Fund, which aided with conference fees, tools needed for classes and testing fees.
The family of the late Michael Joe Wofford donated $26,000 to the Cardinal Foundation for an endowed scholarship in his memory. Wofford died from complications with COVID-19 on Dec. 23, 2020. His wife, Sherry Wofford, made the generous donation on March 8, 2022. Wofford was a long-time resident of Gadsden having graduated from Emma Sansom High School in 1967 and retired from the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. in 2000 after 28 years of service. He spent many years as a referee at local basketball and football games in Etowah County.
Recipients of the Michael Joe Wofford memorial Scholarship must be a full-time student, have at least a 3.0 GPA, have a love of music and must complete an essay titled “The Importance of Music in My Life.”
The Cardinal Foundation hosted a naming ceremony on May 4, 2022, after receiving a $25,000 donation from the family of the late Dr. Gertie Lowe. In return for the donation, the College named the Student Lounge in the Learning Resource Center on the Valley Street Campus the Dr. Gertie Lowe Student Lounge.
Lowe is known as an advocate for civil rights, her community, the public school system and her church. She worked for many years as a nurse before founding the Summer Enrichment Program in 2001, which provided free tutoring, field trips and college visits for up to 125 students each summer. She also served in many leadership roles for her church and was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, the NAACP and the SCLC.
Dr. Kathy Murphy, president of Gadsden State, committed to an annual donation to the Cardinal Foundation in honor of the organization’s past presidents. The annual $1,000 donation is used to award a scholarship in the amount of $1000 to a deserving full-time student at Gadsden State.
Past presidents include Brian Snell, Steve Hildebrant and Mark Condra. The current president is Tommie Goggans III. Every two-year cycle, the scholarships will assume the name of the most recent past president. The first scholarship was named for Condra. Jaren Gray, a general studies student from Gadsden, was the recipient of the first scholarship, which was awarded in $500 increments during the 2022 fall semester and the 2023 spring semester.
Left to right: Cardinal Foundation past presidents Brian Snell, Steve Hildebrant, Gadsden State president Dr. Kathy Murphy, exiting Cardinal Foundation president Mark Condra and current president Tommie Goggans III